Same squares, same sharpness.
Texel density is how many pixels of texture cover one metre of surface. See it with a checker map, compute it in px/m, match it with S, Average Islands Scale, Pack Islands and Set TD as in Blender, choose a target from the camera and the memory, and learn when to break the rule.
STAGE
UV Editor
Image
LMB select · Shift add · G S R · Wheel zoom · MMB pan
3D Viewport
Shading
LMB select · MMB orbit · Wheel zoom
KEY IDEAS
Pixels per metre
Three things decide the density together. Change any of them and the checker squares change size.
- Texel density
- The texture pixels that a 1 m ruler on the surface covers (px/m). It is measured on the model: texture size, UV size and object size. The camera does not change it.
- The formula
- Texture size × √(UV area ÷ 3D area). For a square island: island px ÷ face m.
- Checker map
- Every square is the same number of texels: same square size = same density.
- Target
- The density you aim for, chosen per project from how close the camera gets (how big things look on screen) and the memory: about 512 px/m for third person, 1024 px/m for first person.
- Texture size
- ≈ target × size of the object in metres, rounded up to a power of two.
- Memory
- 2 × the density = 4 × the pixels. A 2K texture costs four times a 1K.